Location: Seoul Undergrid – Reactor Junction, 10:07 AM
The tunnel beyond the reactor wasn't man-made.
At least not in any way that still made sense.
It twisted unnaturally—curving like a spinal cord of some ancient, buried leviathan. Stone and metal fused at odd angles. Every few feet, a red emergency light pulsed dimly, casting the hallway in a throbbing heartbeat glow.
Miura slowed her pace. "This… wasn't on any of the schematics."
"Because it's not part of the official grid," Keisuke said, his voice laced with concern. "You're inside something called Subline Zero. I only found it by accident—buried code, like someone was trying to erase the entire existence of this level."
Aiko walked beside Ryoji, one hand pressed against her arm where the Seal had gone dark.
Dormant.
But not gone.
That was what scared her most.
Ryoji kept his knives drawn. The air was too still. Every breath tasted like rusted blood and ozone.
"Something's watching," he said under his breath.
They turned a corner.
And found the wall pulsing.
It looked like tech—wires, panels, screens. But it breathed. Slowly. As if the structure itself were alive. Faint symbols crawled across its surface like veins of old code.
Aiko stepped closer, drawn despite herself.
The Seal lit up again.
Instantly, the wall reacted—its surface fracturing open to reveal a chamber beyond, sealed behind layers of glass and memory.
Inside: suspended in translucent fluid, dozens of human shapes.
Not dead.
Not quite alive.
Experiments.
Failed ones.
Miura swore under her breath. "What the hell did they do here?"
"This wasn't just research," Ryoji said, staring in quiet fury. "This was manufacturing."
Keisuke spoke again, quieter now. "You're looking at Division Zero's first attempt at bio-synthetic conversion. Those were real people once. Some of them might've even been volunteers. But none of them ever came back."
Aiko pressed her hand to the glass.
One of the figures moved.
A twitch.
Then a shudder.
Then all of them opened their eyes.
Red.
Glowing.
Hungry.
The alarms screamed.
Lights turned red.
The chamber doors hissed open.
"No—" Keisuke yelled through the comm. "You triggered a failsafe! Get out of there—now!"
But it was too late.
The first of the experiments stepped free—flesh hanging in synthetic threads, parts of its skull reinforced with etched metal plates. Its mouth opened, not to speak, but to scream.
And the others followed.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Flooding from alcoves they hadn't even seen, waking like a hive, twitching into life.
"Run," Ryoji barked, grabbing Aiko's arm.
They bolted through the corridor, lights flashing around them in staccato terror. Behind them, the screech of metal feet on stone. The howls of things that should never have been born.
"This way!" Miura shouted, pointing to an old cargo shaft just ahead.
The lift was rusted, its cage half-collapsed.
Ryoji didn't hesitate. He kicked the gate open and shoved Aiko inside. Miura jumped in after them. Ryoji turned, tossed a flashbang—
BOOM—
And leapt through as the creatures reached for him.
The shaft closed.
The last thing they saw through the bars was one of the creatures smiling—its face stitched together from too many others.
Location: Mid-Shaft Descent – 10:14 AM
The lift groaned as it descended, barely functional.
Aiko trembled, wiping sweat from her forehead. "What were they?"
"Ghosts," Ryoji said quietly. "Failed ghosts. Division Zero kept its past hidden for a reason."
Keisuke's voice returned, shaken. "You're heading toward a junction I haven't mapped. Might be unstable. But it's the only way forward. The main undergrid has collapsed between your location and the next safe zone."
"Then we go forward," Miura said grimly.
Suddenly—impact.
The shaft jolted violently.
The lights blinked.
A second impact. Harder.
Then—something dropped onto the top of the lift.
Metal groaned.
"They followed us!" Aiko screamed.
Ryoji looked up.
Talons punched through the ceiling.
"Get ready," he said.
To be continued in Chapter 79...